JP2010136332A - Method and apparatus for providing advertisement, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and apparatus for providing an advertisement, and a program, which enable an advertiser to provide a targeted advertisement suitable for a user based on the contents of a document which is processed by the apparatus when the user uses an image forming apparatus such as a multi-function device to print a document, or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The method of providing the advertisement is for providing targeted advertisements which set the targets to be provided according to users who use the multi-functional image forming apparatus. It identifies a user of the image forming apparatus, obtains the user's history developed based on data determined from the contents of a document processed by the identified user, associates the user with one of the targets to be provided according to the user's history to obtain a targeted advertisement, and then provides the targeted advertisement to the user based on the associated target to be provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an advertisement providing method, an advertisement providing apparatus, and a program.

  Various services allow advertisers to deliver targeted promotional materials to users browsing the web. Here, “target is set” means that a target person (specific user) who provides an advertisement is determined in advance. The promotional material may be targeted for advertising based on keywords presented to the search engine by the user, pages viewed by the user, and other factors. Web searches on some websites provide targeted advertisements (hereinafter “targeted advertisements”) based on the context of the search. Targeted advertisements on other websites may be based on website content and context. When printouts of these websites are acquired, the target advertisements appearing on the web or PDF documents are also included in the printouts.

  In addition to enabling advertisers to provide targeted promotional materials, this model of advertising also benefits users, web publishers, and ad-targeting service providers. I will provide a. Under this model, the user has free access to advertising support websites and services, and the web publisher can generate revenue without charging the user. Also, the advertising targeting service provider makes substantial profits even after sharing revenue with the web publisher.

  Point-of-sale (POS) systems in many facilities place advertisements on receipts provided to customers. For example, a coupon may be printed on a receipt of a grocery store. Each purchase is identified to the system because a purchase is being made and the coupon is generally associated with the item being purchased.

  Self-service kiosks, such as photo kiosks and greeting card kiosks, can also include systems and methods for placing advertisements on printouts provided to customers.

JP 2002-290706 A

  A normal image forming system such as a copying machine, a printer, a scanner, a facsimile, and a multi-function device (MFD) including a part or all of the functions of the copying machine, the printer, the scanner, and the facsimile is used for these devices. It may include the ability to place advertisements on a current document that has been imaged using. Hereinafter, the multi-function peripheral is appropriately referred to as “MFD” or “image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions”. In most cases, the advertisements provided by these conventional systems are not correlated with the content of the material being copied or printed and are not targeted to a specific user. In one case disclosed in Patent Document 1, the copying machine determines a keyword in a single document to be copied, and adds an advertisement to a copy provided to the user based on the determined keyword. In this conventional case, the advertisement is associated with the keywords found in the single document being copied, but the advertisement is not targeted to a particular user. The information used to target advertisements is based solely on the presence of keywords within a single document being copied.

  In all the systems and methods described above for providing advertisements to users, only the website can provide targeted advertisements because the user views electronic documents on the web. When a user is copying, faxing, scanning, or printing a document using a document imaging device, other advertisers are similarly targeted to the user of this imaging device There is no way to provide advertisements. As a result, each of the advertiser, the company that can provide the above-described advertisement target setting service, and the manufacturer of the multifunction device misses the opportunity.

  The object of the present invention is that when a user uses an MFD or imaging device to copy, scan, fax or print a document, the advertiser responds to the user based on the content of the document processed by the device. Another object of the present invention is to provide an advertisement providing method, an advertisement providing apparatus, and a program that can provide a target advertisement.

  The present invention generally relates to a method and system for providing a target advertisement, and more particularly, to a method and system for providing a target advertisement to a user of a multifunction peripheral (MFD).

  Exemplary aspects of the present invention provide a method for providing targeted advertising to a user of a multifunction device. The method includes identifying a user, obtaining a user history that is a compilation of data determined from the content of a document processed by the user, and obtaining user targeted advertisements. To target an advertisement to a user according to a user history and to provide a user targeted advertisement to the user. The target advertisement based on this user history is a “user target advertisement”.

  That is, a first advertisement providing method according to the present invention provides an advertisement providing method for providing a target advertisement in which a target to be provided according to the user is set to a user of an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions. For identifying a user of the image forming apparatus, obtaining a user history generated based on data determined from content of a document processed by the identified user, and obtaining the target advertisement In addition, according to the user history, the user is associated with any of the objects to be provided, and the target advertisement is provided to the user based on the associated object to be provided.

  An exemplary aspect of the present invention provides a method for providing a targeted advertisement to a multifunction device. The method includes a step of acquiring a device history generated based on data determined from the content of a document processed by a multifunction device during a predetermined period (first period), device targeted advertisement (device targeted advertisement). advertisements) to target advertisements to the multifunction device according to the device history, and to provide advertisements to the user at the multifunction device. The target advertisement based on the device history is the “device target advertisement”.

  That is, the second advertisement providing method according to the present invention is an advertisement providing method for providing a target advertisement in which a target to be provided according to the user is set to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions. In response to the device history to obtain a device history generated based on data determined from the content of the document processed by the image forming device during a predetermined period and to obtain the target advertisement. The image forming apparatus is associated with any one of the objects to be provided, and the target advertisement is provided to the user in the image forming apparatus based on the associated object to be provided.

  Exemplary aspects of the present invention provide a method for providing targeted advertising to a user of a multifunction device. The method includes receiving a current document from a user, analyzing the contents of the current document to obtain a document analysis result, searching a dynamic statistics mapping model, and document analysis result to the dynamic statistics mapping model. Determining user dynamic statistics information about the user from input, targeting the user to the advertisement according to the user dynamic statistical information to obtain the user target advertisement, and providing the user target advertisement to the user . The target advertisement based on the user behavior statistics information is also a “user target advertisement”.

  That is, a third advertisement providing method according to the present invention provides an advertisement providing method for providing a target advertisement in which a target to be provided according to the user is set to a user of an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions. And receiving a current document from a user of the image forming apparatus, analyzing the content of the received current document to obtain a document analysis result, and associating the document analysis result with user dynamics statistical information In order to obtain the target advertisement, the user dynamic statistics are obtained by searching a dynamic statistical information mapping model that provides the dynamic statistical information mapping model, determining user dynamic statistical information about the user from the input of the document analysis result to the dynamic statistical information mapping model Depending on the information, the user is associated with one of the objects to be provided, and the target advertisement is forwarded based on the associated object to be provided. Provided to the user, it is an advertisement providing method.

  An exemplary aspect of the present invention provides a multifunction machine for providing targeted advertisements. This multifunction device receives an image display screen (imaging means) for imaging a document received by this apparatus and a document transmitted to this apparatus from a remote location, and transmits data to the remote location. A communication module (communication means) for receiving a document image from the image display screen, and a processor (processing means) for analyzing the image to obtain the received document content, and storing the document content Modified to include a memory (storage means) for displaying, a display device (display means) for displaying a target advertisement to a user of the device, a document received by the device and a target advertisement provided to the device A printer (printing means) for printing the document. These target advertisements include a first target advertisement. The first targeted advertisement is targeted to each of the users according to the user history. The user history is edited from the contents of the document processed in response to a request from the user.

  That is, the advertisement providing apparatus according to the present invention is an advertisement providing apparatus configured to provide a target advertisement that is configured as an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions and to which a target to be provided according to the user is set. From the imaging means for imaging the document received by the apparatus, the communication means for receiving the document transmitted to the apparatus from a remote location and transmitting information to the remote location, and the imaging means Processing means for receiving the image of the document and analyzing the image to obtain the document content of the document; storage means for storing the obtained document content; and displaying the target advertisement to a user of the device Display means for printing, and printing means for printing a document received by the apparatus and a modified document including the target advertisement supplied to the apparatus, The advertisement corresponds to one of the targets to be provided to the user according to the acquired user history by acquiring a user history generated based on data determined from the content of the document processed by the user. It is an advertisement provision apparatus containing the 1st advertisement acquired by attaching.

  Additional aspects related to the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Aspects of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the elements particularly pointed out in the following detailed description and the appended claims, and by combining various elements and aspects.

  It is to be understood that both the foregoing and following description is exemplary and explanatory only and is not intended to limit the claimed invention or application of the invention in any way. .

  In accordance with the present invention, when a user uses an MFD or image forming device to copy, scan, fax or print a document, the advertiser responds to the user based on the content of the document being processed by the device. An advertisement providing method, an advertisement providing apparatus, and a program that can provide a target advertisement are provided.

It is a figure which shows the initial screen of the image forming apparatus which shows the advertisement targeted by the aspect of this invention based on the apparatus history. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an initial screen of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 after a device history has changed according to an aspect of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the initial screen of the image forming apparatus which shows the advertisement targeted by the aspect of this invention based on the user history. FIG. 3 illustrates a targeted advertisement on a screen of an image forming apparatus that receives and queues a document transmitted by a user according to an aspect of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a printed matter of a web page having a target advertisement added by an image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates an image forming system incorporating one or more of the aspects shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 6B illustrates the image forming apparatus of FIG. 6A in communication with other systems and devices in accordance with aspects of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction machine according to an aspect of the present invention. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for providing targeted advertisements through an imaging system in accordance with aspects of the present invention. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for targeting advertisements based on device history, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for targeting advertisements based on user history, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining a target advertisement in response to user behavior statistics data, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for billing for a targeted advertisement in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a computer platform in which the system of the present invention may be implemented.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the above drawings. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain and illustrate the principles of the techniques of the invention.

  In the detailed description that follows, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which like functional elements are designated with like numerals. The following accompanying drawings illustrate specific embodiments and implementations consistent with principles of the present invention by way of illustration and not limitation. These implementations are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and other implementations are available and depart from the scope and spirit of the invention. It should be understood that structural changes and / or substitutions of the various elements can be made without. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be construed in a limiting sense. Further, the various embodiments of the invention as described may be implemented in the form of software running on a general purpose computer, in the form of dedicated hardware, or in the form of a combination of software and hardware.

  Aspects of the invention provide a system and method for an advertiser to provide a targeted advertisement to a user when the user uses an MFD or imaging device to copy, scan, fax or print a document. According to an aspect of the present invention, advertisement targeting is based on the content of the document being processed by this device. According to a further aspect of the invention, this target setting is also based on the contents of the current document (the document currently being processed) and the user's dynamic statistics (demographics).

  An aspect of the present invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of providing sales promotion materials targeted based on content analysis of documents passing through the apparatus.

  In some aspects of the invention, advertisements are targeted based on device history, user history, and other factors. The device history is developed from the contents of a document processed by a specific device during a certain period. The user history is created from the contents of a document processed by a specific user on one or more image forming apparatuses. Device history or user history can be used to target direct advertising. The user history can also be used to generate user profiles or user behavior statistics that are used to determine targeting settings as well.

  In some aspects of the invention, advertisements may also be targeted based on user behavior statistics. User activity statistics can be estimated from the contents of the current document. Alternatively, user activity statistics can be estimated from a set of documents processed by a user or device collected over a period of time. Other factors can be used to estimate user activity statistics in addition to or instead of the content of the document currently being processed. Alternatively, user activity statistics can be entered directly into the device via a smart card carried by the user. The smart card can store the user dynamic statistics itself, and can serve to identify the user when the dynamic statistical information associated with the previous user can be retrieved from another source.

  The systems and methods of the present invention create new opportunities for marketers to reach customers and new opportunities for generating advertising revenue. The system and method of the present invention also provides periodic revenue opportunities for multifunction product manufacturers.

  Aspects of the invention can provide targeted advertising in a variety of formats. Also, various means for providing advertisements with support for various types of advertising accounting models can be used. These formats include, for example, text advertisements, image advertisements, audio advertisements, video advertisements and interactive advertisements. The advertisement providing means is, for example, an advertisement providing means on a printing paper, an advertisement providing means on a display device provided in the apparatus, an advertisement providing means on a large connected display device, an advertisement providing means on a user printable card, In addition to the advertisement providing means on the portable storage / processing device, the advertisement providing means in the modified digital version of the scanned document, and the advertisement provision via electronic “job receipt” or e-mail sent to the user Including means. The advertisement charging processing model includes, for example, a cost per 1000 times display (cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM)) and a cost per click (cost-per-click (CPC)).

  In one exemplary aspect of the present invention, the history and profile of the image forming device are used to find a target advertisement. For example, the device includes the most common keywords that pass through the device, the most common genre of documents that pass through the device, or another classification of documents processed by the device during a predetermined period of time. Collect and analyze all copy, scan, fax and print data to generate a “device profile”. This device presents this profile information to the online advertising service. The online advertising service returns the targeted advertisement to this device. The device periodically selects an advertisement from the pool of targeted advertisements and displays the advertisement on the initial screen of the device even when no one is using the device. The device also retrieves advertisements from the accumulation of device-targeted advertisements whenever a targeted advertisement cannot be successfully retrieved for a given document or given user. select. The device may be, for example, when the document does not contain significant information for advertisement retrieval, when document analysis is not valid for this document, when document analysis is not fast enough for this document or a user-selected device job, or When the advertising network does not have a target advertisement for this document, the target advertisement cannot be searched. In each of these cases, the device will continue to provide targeted advertisements based on the device's job history profile.

  In one exemplary aspect of the invention, the user's history and profile are used to target advertisements. Conditions that prompt the use of the user profile may be similar to conditions that prompt the use of the device profile. The user profile may be based on a history of documents that were copied when the user used a particular device or imaged in a manner other than copying. The user profile may be based on the history of documents imaged by the user on multiple devices. These devices can be connected to share usage information. Alternatively, the user history can be recorded on a smart card carried by the user. The user profile may be based on user activity statistics estimated from the user history, in addition to various factors including device location and time.

  In one exemplary aspect of the invention, user behavior statistics estimated from the content of the current document are used to determine the targeted advertisement. For example, the user places a magazine article on the platen of the image forming apparatus and selects the “copy” function. The device captures an image of an article and applies optical character recognition (OCR) to extract keywords and images or detect the genre of a document. This device uses the extracted content for input to the dynamic statistics model. The dynamic statistical information model provides the dynamic statistical information of the user based on the input content. The device then presents this dynamic statistics to an online advertising service that returns various targeted advertisements to the device. The device then selects a certain number of text advertisements and prints the selected advertisements in the margins of physical copies of magazine articles. This device notifies the advertising service by increasing the number of “advertisement impressions” for each of the advertisements according to the number of copies produced. Then, the advertisement service charges the advertiser periodically based on the advertisement display count. Advertising revenue can be used to reduce copying fees for customers.

  Aspects of the invention analyze the content of documents processed by the MFD over a period of time to create a device history. Also, aspects of the present invention can analyze the content of a document processed by MFD by a certain user over a certain period to create a user history. The device history or user history is subsequently used to target the advertisement to the user. The targeted advertisement is printed on a copied, scanned, faxed or printed page produced by the MFD. The targeted advertisement may be displayed on the display device of the MFD. In the following, copying, scanning, faxing, or printing may be referred to as “printing”.

  Aspects of the invention determine MFD user dynamic statistics so that advertisements can be targeted to the user. The user's dynamic statistics information can be estimated from the content of at least one document provided to the at least one MFD by the user. The targeted advertisement is printed on a copied, scanned, faxed or printed page produced by the MFD.

  Content analysis relates to a raster image representation and a page description language (PDL) representation of the document (s) printed by the MFD. The genre of a document is related to the overall layout and content of the document. In addition, the genre of a document generally describes whether the document is an article, a photograph, a table, a text page, a web page, or the like (classification in the form / form of the document). PDL is a language used for inputting print data to a printer.

  Regular web searches on many websites result in advertisements that are targeted based on the context of the search. The advertisements that appear as a result of these conventional methods depend on the content being searched or viewed. On the other hand, aspects of the present invention search for advertisements as part of the process of copying, scanning, faxing, and printing physical documents. Therefore, the advertisement search is not performed when the user browses the electronic document. Furthermore, in conventional methods, advertisements searched when browsing a website are based on the context of the website. On the other hand, the aspect of the present invention can place an advertisement that is not bound by the transaction that the content owner of the visited website came up with.

  FIG. 1 shows an initial screen of an image forming device showing advertisements targeted based on device history according to an aspect of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 shows an initial screen 100 of the image forming apparatus or MFD. The device shown in FIG. 1 has been used to process documents containing “high tech” related content. By analyzing terms contained in documents processed by this device, the context of these documents is determined to be a “high-tech” context. As a result, the device history shows a “high-tech” related history, and this initial screen displays a “high-tech” related advertisement.

  The initial screen 100 is shown to include a login button 110, a copy button 120, and a scan button 130. These buttons can be hard keys or soft keys that appear on the screen. All of the advertisements 141, 142, 143 shown on the initial screen 100 are frequently used by this device to process documents that have been identified as containing high-tech related content in a way other than copying or copying. So it is related to high-tech related items.

  The content of each document can be in the form of an image when the device is used for copying or scanning or faxing, and in the form of a PDL when the device is used for printing. The image forming apparatus can be a copier, facsimile, scanner, printer, other image forming apparatus, or MFD that includes several functions.

  To determine the topics that frequently appear within a group of documents, first identify the subject of a single document based on the content of the document, and then the frequency of all documents with a certain identified subject An algorithm for determining can be selected. Thus, this type of algorithm takes into account both the frequency of identified terms or pictures in each document and the frequency of documents that contain these identified terms and pictures. ing.

  This initial screen uses a device-based approach when targeting advertisements because at this stage the current document is not presented on the device to be copied and no particular user has been identified by the device.

  FIG. 2 shows an initial screen of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 after the device history has changed, according to an aspect of the present invention.

  FIG. 2 shows an initial screen 100 of the same image forming apparatus shown in FIG. The particular device shown in FIG. 2 is more frequently used to process documents containing “luxury item” related content. The content of the document processed by this device is determined to be a “luxury” related context. As a result, this initial screen displays a “luxury” related advertisement.

  The initial screen 100 is shown to include different advertisements 241, 242, 243. Since all of the advertisements 241, 242, 243 include content related to luxury goods, this device is used more frequently to process documents identified by the device in a manner other than copying or copying, Related to luxury goods.

  This device may be the same device shown in FIG. 1 after being used to duplicate a document having more “luxury” related content than a document having “high tech” related content. This device could be a different device with its own “luxury” related history.

  FIG. 3 shows an initial screen of an image forming apparatus showing advertisements targeted based on user history according to an aspect of the present invention.

  FIG. 3 shows a screen 300 of the same image forming apparatus as in FIGS. Alternatively, another similar device screen 300 is shown after the user has used the device to copy, scan, or otherwise process the document. In FIG. 3, the device receives the document and has the opportunity to identify the user, and determines that the user is targeted by a particular sports car manufacturer. Thus, the device is searching for a sports car video advertisement and presents the user with a display of the advertisement before providing a copy of the user document to the user.

  The device can identify a user based on user identification information entered into the device either directly or via a smart card.

  In exemplary FIG. 3, one revenue model is shown. These drawings show a display device 300 of the image forming apparatus. On the display device 300, a start screen including an advertisement video 310 and a skip button 320 is presented. The user is given the choice of viewing the advertisement 310 and obtaining a copy of the user document at a discounted price, or skipping the advertisement and paying the full price of the copy requested by the user. The user can skip the advertisement 310 by touching the skip button 310.

  In the example above, the device had the opportunity to identify the user. Thus, at this stage, advertisements can be targeted according to device history as described above or according to user history. The user history is based on the document content of documents processed by the user over a period of time. The user history may be based on the content of a document that has been processed by the user on a single device or multiple devices that can communicate. The analyzed content of the current document being processed is added to the existing user history. The user history can be stored on a smart card used by the user to drive the MFD. The user history is available at a central location that communicates with several MFDs and may be made available to all of the MFDs that communicate with this central location.

  In the above example, the user history is used directly to target advertisements to the user. In one aspect of the invention, the user history is first used to determine the user's dynamic statistics. Thereafter, the image forming apparatus determines that the user dynamic statistical information is compatible with the dynamic statistical information targeted by the sports car manufacturer.

  FIG. 4 illustrates a targeted advertisement on a screen of an image forming apparatus that receives and places a document sent by a user into a queue according to an aspect of the present invention.

  FIG. 4 shows a screen 400 of the image forming apparatus. Screen 400 provides three options: print 410, delete 420, and list 430. Document 441 is processed by this device. Document 441 can be sent to the device by the user for further processing. There may be a queue of documents to be sent to this device. Print button 410 allows the user to print the document shown on screen 400. The delete button 420 allows the user to delete the displayed document from the print queue. List button 430 allows the user to list all of the documents in the print queue.

  In the exemplary drawing shown, the device is searching for three targeted text advertisements 442 displayed along the top of the screen 400. These advertisements may be targeted according to device history or according to user history. Alternatively, the user's dynamic statistics information may be estimated from the content of the document or may be discarded. Also, these advertisements can be targeted based on user behavior statistics information.

  FIG. 5 shows a print of a web page with a targeted advertisement added by an image forming device according to an aspect of the present invention.

  FIG. 5 illustrates a web page print 500 generated by an MFD or other imaging device in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. These drawings show a print 500 of a web page with target advertisements 510, 520, 530 added by the device. The advertisements 510, 520, and 530 are added when a web page is printed by a device such as a printer. These advertisements are not displayed on the computer screen when the web page is being viewed on the screen.

  The image forming apparatus searches for a targeted text advertisement from the apparatus or the web. When these targeted advertisements are provided to the user, they are placed in the margin of the printed product 500 of the web page. The targeted advertisement may be placed on the back of the print page, in the margins detected on the print page, or in any other suitable location on the print page.

  Web searches on many websites result in advertisements that are targeted based on the context of the search string. Many websites also include targeted advertisements based on the content of the website. When prints of these websites are obtained, the targeted advertisements that appear on the web or in a PDF document and presented to the user on the display device will also be included in the print.

  However, aspects of the present invention search for advertisements as part of the process of printing the retrieved document. In the aspect of the present invention, when the user is browsing the electronic document and the advertisement does not appear on the display device, the advertisement is not searched. In addition, aspects of the present invention place advertisements that are independent of any market transactions that are considered by the content owner of the accessed website.

  FIG. 6A illustrates an imaging system or apparatus incorporating one or more of the aspects shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 according to aspects of the present invention.

  FIG. 6A shows an MFD system or device 600. Here, the apparatus 600 is one multifunction peripheral (MFD) of the image forming apparatus. The apparatus 600 can also be a copier, scanner, facsimile, printer, or other facsimile. Alternatively, it can be a document scanning or playback system. Apparatus 600 includes one or more of the capabilities and attributes shown in the previous figures (FIGS. 1-5).

  In stage (1) of FIG. 6A, the user presents the document to the device 600. This document may include text documents, photographs or tables as content. The document is presented directly to device 600 or transmitted to the device from a remote location. At stage (2), device 600 extracts content from the document by optical character recognition or by other methods of identifying images and objects within images. The extracted content is incorporated into the device history and user history and can be used to estimate user dynamics statistics. Alternatively, device history or user history can be used to estimate user dynamics statistics. In stage (3), the device 600 retrieves advertisements from the advertising network or from its own memory. The retrieved advertisement is targeted according to device history, user history, or user behavior statistics information. In stage (4), the device 600 displays the targeted advertisement to the user on the display device or prints the advertisement on a print page.

  FIG. 6B illustrates the image forming system of FIG. 6A in communication with other systems and devices in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

  FIG. 6B illustrates the concept of networking and communication between one particular MFD or other type of image forming device and other similar or dissimilar devices. The MFD 600 of FIG. 6B is in communication with a personal computer and mobile device 601 that may be located at a remote location. MFD 600 is also in communication with central location 602.

  In stage (1) of FIG. 6B, the user can request a service. For example, a print command can be transmitted from its own stationary device or mobile device. At stage (2), a user request, eg, a print command, is executed at the nearest MFD, at the MFD requested by the user, or at the MFD determined by the central location 602. The printed copy can include the targeted advertisement. In stage (3), the targeted advertisement is received at the user's device.

  FIG. 6C shows a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction machine according to an aspect of the present invention.

  The multi-function device 600 includes an image display screen 610, a communication module 620, a processor 630, a memory 640, a display device 650, and a printer section 660. These components are connected to each other and can communicate with each other via a data bus 670.

  The image display screen 610 is for displaying an image of a document received by the apparatus. The communication module 620 is for receiving a document transmitted from a remote location to the apparatus and transmitting data to the remote location. The processor 630 is for receiving an image of a document and analyzing the image to obtain the document content of the document. The memory 640 is for storing document contents. The display device 650 is for displaying the target advertisement to the user of the device. Printer section 660 is for printing a modified document that includes the document received at the device and the targeted advertisement provided to the device.

  FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for providing targeted advertisements through an imaging system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

  FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method for providing targeted advertising to a user of an imaging system. The method starts at 700. At 710, a document to be processed by the image forming system is received and input to the image forming system. At 720, document analysis is performed by the image forming system. At 730, the image forming system determines a target advertisement. At 740, the targeted advertisement is provided to the user of the imaging system. At 750, the amount of money to be charged to the advertiser is calculated by the system. At 760, the method ends.

  At 710, document input to the system can be accomplished in various ways. In one aspect, a user can enter document data into the system by obtaining an image of the document using a copy function, a scan function, or a fax function. In another aspect, a user can enter document data into the system by presenting print data using a device compatible PDL that includes text, pixel and vector information.

  At 720, the document is analyzed to extract context. During document analysis, the device extracts text elements, graphic elements or photo elements and document layout. As a result of document analysis, the context of the document is determined.

  The system extracts any available text, pixel and vector information from the scanned image data or the presented print data. Text extraction may be performed by OCR.

  The system identifies keywords and objects by analyzing the extracted text and images and computes high-level document characteristics. For example, important keywords detected in text and important objects detected in images and graphics are acquired.

  The system may also analyze document data and / or acquired characteristics to classify documents and identify, for example, document genres. Useful non-text attributes of a document include the “presence and their proportion” of photos, graphics or tables and the layout style of the document. The layout style includes the font size, the presence / absence of a title, and the number of text columns.

  The above features and attributes of the scanned data of the document can be combined heuristically or systematically, for example by using machine learning methods, to determine the “genre” of the document. Genres can be categories such as magazine articles, newspaper articles, letters, spreadsheets, maps, and photographs. An automatically determined document genre can be used as one of the parameters for advertisement selection. Even without a clear classification of genres, document features can also be incorporated into the dynamic statistics mapping method described below.

  Aspects of the present invention can perform document analysis and apply the results in real time to select advertisements for the document while the document is being copied, printed, scanned, faxed or otherwise processed. Moreover, the aspect of this invention can memorize | store an analysis result in order to produce an apparatus history and a user history, and can collect an analysis result over a certain time.

  At 730, the target settings are based on device history, user history, or user behavior statistics information estimated from the content of the document determined at analysis stage 720.

  At 740, the targeted advertisement may be provided in various formats or using various providing means. These formats include text advertisements, image advertisements, audio advertisements, video advertisements, and interactive advertisements. Providing means used to provide targeted advertisements include: printed paper, display device on device, large connected display device, user printable card, user portable storage / processing device, This includes providing a modified electronic version of the scanned document or providing it via an electronic “job receipt” or email sent to the user. The providing format and providing means or medium can be selected depending on the device or the user.

  At 760, the billing process may be performed according to the CPM method when the advertisement is displayed or printed on the display device. The billing process may be performed according to the CPC method when the advertisement is displayed on the display device and the user is given an opportunity to subsequently advertise by clicking on the advertisement.

  FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for targeting advertisements based on device history, according to an aspect of the present invention.

  The method of FIG. At 810, device history is retrieved. At 820, advertisement target settings are performed based on the device history. At 830, the process of targeting advertisements based on device history ends.

  At 810, the device history is retrieved from the history stored on this device or at a central location communicating with this device. The device history is accumulated over a certain predetermined period or a freely variable period. The device history is determined based on the result of the content analysis performed on the content of the document processed by the device.

  Analyzing the contents of a document yields several types of information. These types of information are organized and stored in each device as device history.

  Target settings based on device history at 820 can be based on specific keywords and objects found in documents that are frequently processed by the device.

  In one aspect, the device history may be correlated with usage dynamic statistics for a particular device. In this situation, advertisements can be targeted to dynamic statistics of users who frequently use a particular device. This dynamic statistics information is determined from analyzing documents processed on the device over a period of time.

  FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of a method for targeting advertisements based on user history according to an aspect of the present invention.

  A method for targeting advertisements based on user history begins at 900. At 910, a user is identified. At 920, the device obtains a user history. At 930, the advertisement is targeted based on the user history. At 940, the process of targeting the advertisement ends.

  The user history relates to the history of documents processed by the user. The user history may be based on specific keywords or objects included in documents frequently presented by the user. User history may relate to documents processed on one device over a period of time. Alternatively, the user history may relate to documents processed by the same user on multiple devices when usage data from all of the multiple devices is available to the currently used device. . The user history may be available on a smart card used by the user at the device.

  At 910, the user is identified by direct input to the device by the user via a smart card used by the user or as a result of analyzing the current document being processed by the user.

  At 920, the device can obtain a user history from a history stored in the device or from a central location that has accumulated user data from several devices.

  At 930, the advertisement is directed according to different aspects of the user history. Analyzing the content of documents processed by the user results in several categories of indicators. Indicator categories include keywords, objects in graphics, document genres, and the like. Some of these indicator categories can be used to target advertisements.

  Also, at 930, user activity statistics information can be estimated from a user history of document processing. User dynamic statistics are then used to target the advertisement.

  FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for determining targeted advertisements in response to user dynamic statistics data, according to aspects of the present invention.

  In one aspect of the invention, targeted advertisements are found based on user behavior statistics data. The system uses a dynamic statistical information model that provides a mapping between document analysis results and user dynamic statistical data. The user dynamic statistics data includes the user's age, sex, and the like. The user dynamic statistics data may also include information regarding the user's specific area of interest such as “soccer” or “movie” that may be utilized by the advertiser regardless of the user's age, gender, and the like.

  The method shown in FIG. At 1010, the device selects (searches) a mapping model of dynamic statistic information to be used. At 1020, data obtained from the document analysis results is input to the selected dynamic statistical information model. At 1030, the user's dynamic statistics information is updated by this model in response to the input of the current document content. At 1040, a targeted advertisement is selected based on user behavior statistics determined from the model. At 1050, the process of selecting targeted advertisements based on user behavior statistics information ends.

  At 1010, the selected mapping model is a theoretical model. Also, the mapping model can be an empirical model. An empirical model may be generated by collecting user dynamic statistics data and correlating this data with a population of documents. Here, the document population is a population of documents presented to one or more image forming apparatuses by a user at a certain time or over a certain period.

  Given an a body of documents presented by a user with known relevant user behavior statistics, obtaining an empirical model can be considered an auto-annotation or tagging problem. Solutions for automatic annotation or tagging problems have been studied using various machine learning methods. As the machine learning method, for example, a support vector machine (SVM), a nearest-neighbor method, and a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) are used.

  For auto-annotation or tagging, each dynamic statistic category has a label for which there is a set of positive and negative examples available as training data). Documents within this set of dynamic statistics will be positive examples, and documents outside this set of dynamic statistics will be negative examples. This is a single-label learning task that fits well with SVMs, decision trees, and the like. When the expected number of labels is small, it is easy to train a separate classifier for each of the categories of dynamic statistics. The result of automatic classification can be a discrete decision between mutually exclusive labels, or a score for all available labels.

  In the case of an aggregated set that incorporates documents derived from multiple dynamic statistics, the output of the single-document classifier above is the dynamics associated with this aggregate. It can be accumulated on individual documents to arrive at a distribution of statistical information. Also known distribution modeling methods can be used. A model such as GMM may be evaluated based on training data for each dynamic statistics category. Given a set of unlabeled test documents, the likelihood that this set was processed by each of the single-demographic GMMs can be measured. The resulting likelihood is used to evaluate the distribution of test document dynamic statistics. This is just one overview that shows how document content can be associated (mapped) with dynamic statistics data. Various well-studied statistical analysis techniques are available to apply to this problem.

  Also, the advertisement selection algorithm can combine various other features in addition to the dynamic statistical information estimated from the document contents in order to improve the target setting of the advertisement. These other features include (a) user image and audio acquisition, and (b) device location. Both factors can be used to further refine the estimated kinetic statistics. The device location can be in a convenience store, library, university, white collar office, or blue collar workplace. Neighboring companies / halls may also be related to determining or refining user activity statistics. For example, the device may be near a university, near a luxury shopping street, or near an electronics shopping street. The time of day may be related to determining the type of advertisement. For example, an advertisement during morning coffee time may be different from an advertisement for students and party participants at night. Owner / renter preferences also determine the advertisement. For example, the coupons used in this store, the automatic selection of competitors' advertisements, and the advertiser's bid price (bid price, ie the price presented by the advertiser) and budget to determine the advertisements offered to the user Can be used.

  FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram of a method for billing for a targeted advertisement in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

  The device must keep track of the advertisements shown to the user to charge the advertiser. In FIG. 11, the billing method for the target advertisement starts at 1100. At 1110, this billing method is selected based on the type of advertisement. At 1120, a billing amount for the advertisement is determined. At 1130, the billing process ends.

  Multiple advertising billing processing models are supported by aspects of the present invention. Examples of billing processing models include cost per display (cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM)) and cost per click (cost-per-click (CPC)). Advertisements on stationary media such as paper and non-interactive display advertisements can be billed by the CPM model. On the other hand, interactive advertisements on device screens that are embedded in electronic versions of scans and sent by email receipt can be billed by the CPC model. CPC provides more value for advertisers and consequently generates more revenue for advertising networks.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram that illustrates an embodiment of a computer / server system 1200 upon which an embodiment of the inventive methodology may be implemented. The system 1200 includes a computer / server platform 1201, peripheral devices 1202, and network resources 1203.

  The computer platform 1201 has a data bus 1204 or other communication mechanism for communicating information across and between various portions of the computer platform 1201, and other computational and control tasks that process the information. And a processor (CPU: central processing unit) 1205 connected to the data bus 1204 to execute the above. The computer platform 1201 also includes a volatile storage device 1206 such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device connected to the data bus 1204 for storing various information and instructions executed by the processor 1205. Including. Volatile storage device 1206 may also be used to store temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 1205. The computer platform 1201 is also a read-only memory (ROM or EPROM) connected to the data bus 1204 for storing static information, instructions and various system configuration parameters for the processor 1205 such as a basic input / output system (BIOS). Firmware storage device) 1207 or other static storage device. A persistent storage device 1208 such as a magnetic disk, optical disk or solid state flash memory device is provided and connected to the data bus 1204 for storing information and instructions.

  The computer platform 1201 is connected via a data bus 1204 to a display device 1209 such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display device or a liquid crystal display device (LCD) for displaying information to a system administrator or a user of the computer platform 1201. Can be connected. An input device 1210 including alphanumeric keys and other keys is connected to the data bus 1204 to communicate information and command selections to the processor 1205. Another type of user input device is a cursor control device, such as a mouse, trackball, or cursor direction key, for communicating direction information and command selections to the processor 1204 to control cursor movement on the display device 1209. (Mouse / position indicating device) 1211. The input device generally has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (eg, x) and a second axis (eg, y), that specifies that the device specifies a position in the plane. enable.

  An external storage device 1212 may be connected to the computer platform 1201 via the data bus 1204 to provide additional or removable storage capacity for the computer platform 1201. In one embodiment of computer system 1200, removable external storage device 1212 may be used to facilitate data exchange with other computer systems.

  The invention is related to the use of computer system 1200 for implementing the techniques described herein. In one embodiment, the system of the present invention may reside on a machine such as computer platform 1201. According to one embodiment of the invention, the techniques described herein are responsive to a processor 1205 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions stored in a volatile recording device 1206. Executed by 1200. Such instructions may be read into volatile storage device 1206 from another computer readable medium, such as persistent storage device 1208. Execution of the sequence of instructions stored in volatile storage device 1206 causes processor 1205 to perform the process steps described herein. In an alternative embodiment, a wire connection circuit (hardwired circuit) may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the present invention. Thus, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to a specific combination of hardware circuit configuration and software.

  The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor 1205 for execution. A computer-readable medium is only one example of a machine-readable medium that may retain instructions for performing any of the methods and / or techniques described herein. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as persistent storage 1208. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as volatile storage 1206. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and optical fiber, and includes a wire with a data bus 1204.

  Common forms of computer readable media include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, or any other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch card, paper tape, Any other physical medium with a pattern of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, flash drive, memory card, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other physical medium readable by a computer Including.

  Various forms of computer readable media may be required in transferring one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 1205 for execution. For example, these instructions can be initially transmitted from a remote computer to a magnetic disk. The remote computer can also load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem close to computer system 1200 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal. The infrared detector can receive data transmitted as an infrared signal, and an appropriate circuit configuration can set this data on the data bus 1204. The data bus 1204 transmits data to the volatile storage device 1206, and the processor 1205 retrieves instructions from the storage device and executes them. The instructions received by volatile storage device 1206 may optionally be stored on persistent storage device 1208 either before or after execution by processor 1205. These instructions can also be downloaded to the computer platform 1201 via the Internet using various network data communication protocols known in the art.

  The computer platform 1201 includes a communication interface such as a network interface card (communication interface) 1213 connected to the data bus 1204. The communication interface 1213 performs bidirectional data communication through a network link 1214 connected to a local network (LAN) 1215. For example, the communication interface 1213 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem for providing a data communication connection with a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example, communication interface 1213 may be a local area network interface card (LAN NIC) for providing a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links such as well-known 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and Bluetooth may also be used for network implementation. In any such implementation, communication interface 1213 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

  The network link 1214 generally performs data communication via at least one network with other network resources. For example, network link 1214 may provide a connection to host computer 1216 or network storage / server 1222 via local network 1215. Additionally or alternatively, the network link 1214 may connect to a wide area or global network (Internet) 1218 such as the Internet via a gateway / firewall 1217. In this way, the computer platform 1201 can access network resources located anywhere on the Internet 1218, such as a remote network storage / server 1219. On the other hand, the computer platform 1201 may also be accessed by clients located anywhere on the local area network 1215 and / or the Internet 1218. Network clients 1220 and 1221 may themselves be implemented based on a computer platform similar to platform 1201.

  Both the local network 1215 and the Internet 1218 use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. Signals over various networks and signals on the network link 1214 through the communication interface 1213 that sends and receives digital data to and from the computer platform 1201 are typical carriers that carry information.

  The computer platform 1201 can send messages and receive data including program codes via various network (s) including the Internet 1218 and LAN 1215, network link 1214 and communication interface 1213. In the Internet example, when the system computer platform 1201 operates as a network server, the system is connected to the client (s) 1220 and the Internet 1218, the gateway / firewall 1217, the local area network 1215, and the communication interface 1213. Requested code or data for application programs running on / or 1221 may be transferred. Similarly, the system may receive codes from other network resources.

  The received code may be executed by processor 1205 when it is received and / or stored in persistent storage 1208 or volatile storage 1206 and other code for later execution. It may be stored in a non-volatile storage device. In this manner, computer system 1201 may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

  Finally, it should be understood that the processes and techniques described herein are not inherently related to any particular apparatus and may be implemented by any suitable combination of components. Further, various types of general purpose devices can be used in accordance with the teachings described herein. It has also proved advantageous to configure a dedicated device for performing the method steps described herein. Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, these examples are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than limiting. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many different combinations of hardware, software and firmware are suitable for practicing the present invention. For example, the described software can be implemented in a wide variety of programming or scripting languages such as assembler, C / C ++, perl, shell, PHP, Java, etc.

  Still other implementations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. Various aspects and / or components of the described embodiments may be used in the advertising system of the present invention alone or in any combination. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.

100 Initial screen 110 Login button 120 Copy button 130 Scan button 141, 142, 143 Advertisement 241, 242, 243 Advertisement 300 Screen 310 Advertisement video 320 Skip button 400 Screen 410 Print button 420 Delete button 430 List button 441 Document 442 Text advertisement 500 Printed matter 510, 520, 530 Target advertisement 600 Device 601 Stationary or mobile device 602 Central location 610 Image display screen 620 Communication module 630 Processor (CPU)
640 Memory 650 Display device 660 Printer section 670 Data bus

Claims (13)

An advertisement providing method for providing a target advertisement in which a target to be provided according to a user is set to a user of an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions,
Identifying a user of the image forming apparatus;
Obtaining a user history generated based on data determined from the content of the document processed by the identified user;
In order to acquire the target advertisement, the user is associated with any of the objects to be provided according to the user history,
Providing the target advertisement to the user based on the provided object to be associated;
Ad delivery method. The image forming apparatus receives a current document from the user, analyzes the content of the current document, corrects the user history according to the content of the current document,
The advertisement providing method according to claim 1, wherein the user history is acquired.   The advertisement providing method according to claim 1, wherein the user history is edited from a content of a document processed in response to a request from the user during a predetermined period.   The user history is edited from contents of a document processed in response to a request from the user in the plurality of image forming apparatuses adapted to share information. The advertisement providing method according to claim 1. Furthermore, an apparatus history generated based on data determined from the content of the document processed by the image forming apparatus is acquired,
In order to acquire the target advertisement, the image forming apparatus is associated with one of the objects to be provided according to the apparatus history,
Displaying the target advertisement on a display device of the image forming apparatus based on the provided object to be associated;
The advertisement providing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The advertisement providing method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a billing process for an advertiser of the advertisement is performed on the target advertisement provided to the user.   If the current document received from the user is being processed in response to a copy, scan or fax request, the analysis includes analyzing the image of the current document to determine keywords and graphics; 7. The method of claim 2, wherein if the current document received from the user is being processed in response to a print request, the analysis includes determining data from a page description language for the current document. The advertisement providing method according to claim 1. Furthermore, user dynamic statistics information of the user is determined,
Refining the correspondence according to the user behavior statistics information,
The advertisement providing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.   The advertisement providing method according to claim 8, wherein the user behavior statistics information is determined from at least one document from the user history. An advertisement providing apparatus configured as an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions, for providing a target advertisement in which a target to be provided according to the user is set,
Imaging means for imaging the document received by the device;
Communication means for receiving a document transmitted to the device from a remote location and transmitting information to the remote location;
Processing means for receiving an image of the document from the imaging means and analyzing the image to obtain the document content of the document;
Storage means for storing the acquired document content;
Display means for displaying the targeted advertisement to a user of the device;
Printing means for printing a document received by the device and a modified document including the target advertisement supplied to the device;
The target advertisement acquires a user history generated based on data determined from the content of a document processed by a user, and is provided to any of the targets to be provided to the user according to the acquired user history. Including a first advertisement that is acquired in association,
Advertisement providing device.   The target advertisement acquires a device history generated based on data determined from the content of a document processed by the image forming device during a predetermined period, and the user according to the acquired device history The advertisement providing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a second advertisement acquired in association with any of the objects to be provided.   The target advertisement is obtained by analyzing the contents of the current document received by the device by the processing means to obtain a document analysis result, and a dynamic statistics that provides correspondence between the document analysis result and user dynamic statistical information An information mapping model is searched, user dynamic statistical information about the user is determined from input of the document analysis result to the dynamic statistical information mapping model, and the user is provided according to the determined user dynamic statistical information The advertisement providing apparatus according to claim 10, comprising a third advertisement acquired in association with any one of the targets. A program for providing a target advertisement in which a target to be provided according to the user is set to a user of an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions,
Computer
Identification means for identifying a user of the image forming apparatus;
Acquisition means for preliminarily storing the contents of a document processed by a user in a storage means, and acquiring a user history generated based on data determined from the contents of the document processed by the identified user;
In order to acquire the target advertisement, a plurality of the objects to be provided are stored in a storage unit in advance, and an association unit that associates the user with any of the objects to be provided according to the acquired user history,
Providing means for providing the target advertisement to the user based on the provided object to be associated,
Program to function as.

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